“Not at all.” I scan the party, avoiding those piercing, knowing eyes. “He left me to be with her. But it’s fine. At least I know where I stand.”

“You don’t, though.” He shakes his head. “He would give you anything. Abriella, look at me.” When I do, he stoops a bit so we’re eye to eye. “My prince wants you desperately. If he’s with another woman right now, it’s because he was so hurt to discover that you’ve been spending time with Finnian.”

I balk. Riaan knows too? Have I kept no secrets?

“He tells me everything,” he says. “If you care for him, if you don’t want to lose what you two have, you have to regain his trust.”

“I want to,” I say, but it’s not a want. My heart doesn’t give a damn about Sebastian’s trust right now, but my mission . . . I need his trust. “But when I asked Sebastian how, he said he didn’t want to push me into anything I wasn’t ready for.”

“There is only one ultimate show of trust between a human and a faerie.”

“The bond,” I whisper. That’s what Sebastian had meant. He wants me to share a life-bond with him. But I can’t. Not until I retrieve Mordeus’s artifacts. Not when the bond would mean Sebastian’s knowing—even in a vague sense—where I am and what I’m doing. But after Jas is safe, when I can finally tell Sebastian the truth, would I be willing to bond with him to prove I can be trusted? Yet it’s not just an issue of him trusting me. After what I saw tonight, I’m not sure I trust Sebastian enough.

“Don’t be afraid of it,” Riaan says, giving me a soft smile. “It’s a kind of intimacy you simply can’t imagine. A connection deeper than any other I’ve ever known. Just . . . consider it.” He straightens as someone calls for him from the other side of the room. He waves before returning his attention to me. “Now, tell me what I can do for you so you can enjoy this fine party.”

I wave him off. “Go. I’m fine.”

He studies me for a beat. “You’re sure?”

“I’m going to dance,” I say, forcing a smile.

“Thatta girl.” He bops me on the nose and turns away to find his friends.

There are parties in the Seelie Court nightly. It seems like most of the palace residents spend their evenings dancing and drinking, but with the exception of Litha, I’ve never cared to attend. I’ve always made excuses. If my presence was required, I made a polite appearance and then slipped out moments later. But tonight I don’t refuse the faerie wine that’s offered to me. I snatch it from the waiter’s hand and down it in two gulps before grabbing another.

I want the untethering I felt when I danced on my first night here. I want the comforting warmth I felt when I drank Mordeus’s wine. I want to forget this worry and heartache. I welcome the drink to steal my hours so I don’t have to endure this feeling of being crushed beneath the weight of disappointment—in Sebastian and in myself.

By the time the second glass touches my lips, I’m already dancing. My limbs feel lighter, and my head clears of the constant worry. In this moment, I am free. I am the birds swooping through the night sky. The kite cut loose and floating on the breeze, just above the waves.

I’m vaguely aware of cheers, smiles, and laughter of the people around me, but mostly I’m somewhere else. I’m at once here and nowhere. I’m free.

I don’t know how long I’ve been dancing when I find Riaan at my side again. His smile is broad. “How do you feel, Abriella?”

Letting my head loll to the side, I grin. “Beautiful.”

He lowers his mouth to my ear and whispers, “Don’t deny yourself the male you want. Don’t be afraid of this life.”

I stretch my arms above my head and let my hips undulate to the beat. “I’m not afraid of anything tonight.”

“Good.” He takes me by the waist and turns me toward the ballroom doors. “He sent the girl home. He’s alone in his chambers. Maybe you can both have what you want tonight.”

I squirm out of his hold and turn back to him. “You mean the bond?”

His eyes flick over me suggestively, and the corner of his mouth hitches up in a crooked smile. “Among other things.”

“But I can’t,” I whine. My words are slurred. I think I’m still dancing. I don’t know how to stop. Don’t want to. “I can’t even tell you why, or I’ll lose my sister forever.”

Something flickers across his features, and those eyes turn too serious for a beat. “Sebastian will always find a way to give you what you want.”

“I want to dance.” I grab another glass of wine from a passing waiter.

Tags: Lexi Ryan These Hollow Vows Fantasy
Source: readsnovelonline.net